How much debt are you actually in?

[Jam-sandwich]

My debt is:

- £1500 on my student loan, which is slowly being paid off through my salary, it should be clear in 3 years.
- £4.5k split between two 0% interest credit cards. I was left with a chunk of debt when I split up with an ex in 2011 (was debt-free before that, with savings too!) and it spiralled from there. I was very foolish in my mid 20s and got addicted to gambling websites. I found the strength to ‘self-exclude’ myself from the websites I was using with Gamstop in 2017, so I don’t think I could sign up to any now even if I tried (I haven’t tried!)

That’s all I owe, I don’t have a car on finance and I rent. At my worst I had £6k on credit cards and was £1k deep into my overdraft, so I’m happy with how I’ve been chipping away at it. My current 0% credit card deals run until early 2022 and I plan to have them clear by then, I pay around £150-200 a month towards them.

My biggest tip for anyone spiralling like I did is to take out a 0% balance transfer credit card if you can, before I did that I spent years paying the minimum amount on cards and paying almost the same back in interest every month, it got me nowhere. I wish I’d done it sooner.

Also if anyone has a gambling problem like I did, and is too scared to reach out to anyone, please please google Gamstop. I think some websites aren’t covered by it, but for me, taking that step of admitting to myself I had a serious problem and finding the strength to input my details on there was the wake up call I needed.

 

[Pickle2009]

Single mum of two.

Debts £1500
No mortgage (renting),
No car finance (old banger)

I have recently found the Dave Ramsey method and have started following that, hoping to improve my savings etc. Worth looking at

 

[caitlinbullen]

80k mortgage
8k car loan
2k credit card
2k store card
1k overdrawn most of the month

Hate our non-mortgage debt but it is what it is. Ain't gonna be paid off any time soon as we have 3 kids, only one of us working, so kinda just scraping by.

It is a huge regret that we weren't more savvy with money in our twenties. Seems mad to me that it doesn't form part of our national curriculum in schools. I will make damn sure my kids are a better informed than we were.

On the plus side you can't take it with you eh? And we're happy, healthy and leading full lives so I really try not to not let it get me down any more.

 

[GiftedNotFree]

Debt free as of three months ago! Get so angry with myself about how stupid I was for so long. Maxed out a loan, over draft and very account after uni. Parents couldnt help and paying rent/bills/travel on £12500 a year entry level PR job meant I funded all the nights out and clothes with debt that meant even as my wage increased, so did my lifestyle costs and spent a decade paying minimum payments. Even if I got a bonus or something I'd pay something off and then treat myself.

Was nearly £10k 2years ago when I finally realised I shouldnt be in debt with mine and my partners wage and just needed to stop spending!

Now I'm debt free I HATE actually spending my money and consider any purchase for weeks, where as when I was buying in credit I just didnt care?! Just wish id realised 10/15years ago I didnt need 'things'!

I could have written this pretty much word for word! Oh the money I have wasted !!! But the good thing is you learn from such mistakes and like you say it teaches you how to manage your money.

 

[SunshineDreamer]

No debt. My house was inherited so no mortgage and I didn’t have student loans. We have a credit card for emergencies if we ever can’t use a debit card, but that’s it.

 

[Brianbadonde]

We owe that much and to that many different company’s , I actually can’t remember the company’s anymore. A lot has been sent to debt collectors , and a fair few stopped bothering sending letters about 18 months ago. I don’t even know where to start or what to do. We use to have a great income until my husband was diagnosed with Bi polar , and then really struggled with his diagnosis and the medication. He was then run over a year later , and ended up breaking his shoulder and ball joint . And couldn’t return to his manual job due to the pain.
He struggled working full time even before the confirmation of bi polar, and after the accident his depression got bad. I can’t apply for Iva etc as he is currently going through a claim , due to being hit by a person texting and driving . I’m hoping when we get awarded something we can pay something off .

Definitely worth contacting a debt management company (make sure it’s a free advice one such as step change or pay plan) if you’re due a pay out they could look into a full and final iva for you (that’s where you can offer short settlements to all credits with a lump sum of money to clear as many as possible) there’s lots of options, and they can help you find the right one. Please Don’t suffer in silence x

 

[Onecandream]

35 no debt. I live below my means and love saving

 

[nothanksbabes]

I was about £25k in debt (£5k overdraft and credit cards) built up over a decade mostly just on living (train pass to work on credit card etc.) I'm just coming into year 5 of an IVA so should be debt free soonish but then have to build my credit rating up again. It was amazing when I never missed a £600 minimum payment, which shows what a load of shite credit referencing is.

Think there's about £3k left on my student loan.

I'll never be able to save for a deposit for a house. Not gonna inherit anything to help. Very depressing.

 

[Laur91]

Just my mortgage and car, I still have nearly £1.5k a month fun money after all bills are paid. I have CC’s and accounts with Next & Very but I always pay it off and the mortgage is overpaid every month. We have plenty in savings so in summer we will get rid of the car and buy a newish one outright with savings.

8 years ago I was in £25k debt and renting. Lots of hard work and savings and we now have a good saving pot and our own house. We have had several promotions, bonuses and 2 redundancy pay outs along side a year of saving £1k a month (it was a killer but so worth it!) to help. No outside help, all done on our own.

this is very inspiring as I’m in £25k at the moment and renting and it’s good to know you’ve come out on top the other side

 

[CrazyCatLady101]

I feel so bad typing this but I will be very honest. I had a great job I had been in for years and never seen that changing so I had a loan from the bank for my car. I then had 2 credit cards from the bank and an overdraft. I also had another platinum credit card and a credit account on a catalogue all at the age of 23.... I am now 33. lost my job, moved back home after a few months of trying to get by on my own and took any temp job I could whilst trying to find a perm job. months later I went back to college so that's where most of my debt came from I think.

Bank Loan £1400
Bank Credit Cards £3000
Platinum Credit Card£1500
Very £1200
Fashion World £3500
My car loan from last year £4500
Gas bill from old house - only story £800 - was also being paid monthly at £70!!
Inland Rev ( by bf put in a claim for us when I was at college and he wasn't earning much)£3600

Just shy of 20 grand. my plan is to save £400 each month this year and start getting a lot of this paid off to give me even more spare money to pay higher amounts to it all

 

[hiya_hun]

Sorry if this is off topic but please could you clarify what happens with your credit if you use stepchange? Does it make your credit rating non existent so then you’re even more at a loss? I’d love to be able to sort out my debts as it really fuels my anxiety but don’t want to end up in an even bigger mess with no credit etc.

I get where you are coming from but unless you plan on taking out more credit... Having a low credit rating means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Try and save even a little emergency fund so if anything unexpected comes up you have the funds there and just focus on getting rid of the debt!

Stepchange is a life line for a lot of people

 

[Hc68759]

Sorry if this is off topic but please could you clarify what happens with your credit if you use stepchange? Does it make your credit rating non existent so then you’re even more at a loss? I’d love to be able to sort out my debts as it really fuels my anxiety but don’t want to end up in an even bigger mess with no credit etc.

Yes you wouldn’t be able to use your credit cards, store cards and overdraft etc but you only have to pay back what you can comfortably afford every month whether that’s £1 or £100 and all interest is usually frozen. You save money by not having such big outgoings every month trying to keep on top of paying back each debt. My minimum payments each month on all my credit cards were about £100 each which was crippling me but I got them down to about £20 each which then freed up a few hundred quid extra a month to live on without getting myself into debt again.
I was paying about £800 a month to all my creditors just trying to keep on top of the minimum payments each month. This went down to about £160 a month in total each month once I went on a debt management plan which freed up about £640 a month spare for me to live on so I didn’t need any extra credit during that time. Hope that makes sense.

As soon as my debts were paid off I was able to get another credit card which I pay off every month and it’s helped to rebuild my credit rating back up. My credit score was 0 during the debt management plan and it’s now about 630. All the defaults have recently been removed from my credit file too as it’s been over 6 years now

 

[DanaScully]

I'm not in any debt. I try my best to live within my means and I'm quite frugal by nature.

I'm thinking of getting a new car as mine is 11 years old now, but I hate the thought of taking out finance. I've found a car I like that's affordable and ticks all my boxes but it's not a 'cool' make. I wish there wasn't societal pressure to have the 'right' things to fit in, and I wish I cared less about what others think!

 

[idk2]

Tbh a car on finance really isn't that bad if you plan to get rid of it within 2/3 years. You would pay less on it in the long run and besides, if you were to buy it outright, you would never see that money again as cars just depreciate the longer you have them. I do think its more a problem of accessibility and the belief you need to be living a certain lifestyle. Its such a big problem for my generation and its one I've struggled with myself.

 

[midnightrose]

If you are struggling and have the 'fear' e.g scared of the phone, the postman, any knock at the door then i urge you to seek help. I remember the day i phoned Stepchange (charity - dont have to pay them) as i was in such a mess and terrified. I was humilated and ashamed and cried on the phone with them for over an hour. I had become a single parent and the money had not gone on luxuries but just living but i had gotten to a point that i couldnt meet even the minimum payments.

They were brilliant. They go through your budget realistically and then take over and in many cases get the creditors to freeze the interest. Yes you won't be able to get credit for at least 6 years ( i think) but the payments you agree with them are also realistic. You pay your direct debit to them and then they pay your creditors. You can change it as your circumstances change and you will have an annual review.

The night i did it was the first time i slept in about 7 years. I have now been on it about 8 years and the end is in sight. I had to learn to buy what we needed and not what I wanted and it was HARD but I will never allow myself to have credit again, even if i can/could get it as i know myself and know it is too much of a temptation and i cannot manage it. (no matter how much i may think that i can)

They will talk you through the best solution and for me it was a Debt Management plan rather than IVA, bancruptcy etc. Make sure you go via a charity though and not one of the debt solutions that charge you. Stepchange was the only charity one at the time and was backed by the goverment. I am not sure if there are others.

Stepchange are fantastic. I called them once when I thought I couldn’t manage after a break up. They were so professional, understanding and kind, and extremely straight forward to use as a service. They are an asset to this country, and I’m so glad they exist.

 

[Duck1234]

always admire people like yourselves - it’s such a ridiculous easy situation to get yourself into nowadays with credit so easily available! Sounds like you’re doing really well though, well done!

Thank you! That’s nice to hear. There’s no one to blame but ourselves, we were stupid & frivolous at times but it was basically handed on a plate to us. These companies want you to get into debt with them, that’s how they make money. It will take a few years but we’ll get out of it. We’ve learned our lesson the hard way. My dad always says you shouldn’t buy anything unless you have the cash to pay for it.. that’s old school now but i wish I’d listened to him more.

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

I feel so much better hearing everyone’s situation. I mean i wish everyone all the best in trying to get out of debt and pay everything off but I use to walk round Westfield in London looking at people walking around with shopping bags in hand looking carefree etc. Or even people with nice cars and big houses. I now realise/think that a lot of those people are probably sticking it all on credit/finance and just chipping away at it rather than paying the full amount up front. I’ve always grown up being told to only buys things I could pay for up front so the only thing me and my husband have a debt of is the mortgage of £280,00 on a £400,00 house. We paid for our car in cash and anything else we need/want or we do without. We are not rich at all, my husband has an income of £37,000 and I’m a stay at home mum with 3 kids. We are just super careful and frugal. We like the nice things in life but we save for them. We have a big 3 bed house opposite a beautiful park in Reading and have an Audi, but please don’t be jealous or think it came easy, we have worked so hard to save for the things we want and have made so many sacrifices for the important things.

I love your post so much. People get in debt because companies are throwing money at them and nobody wants to save for anything anymore.
Where we live everybody is driving the newest cars and having flashy holidays and I just know these people have massive amounts of debt.

We weren’t dirt poor growing up but we didn’t have money and my brother and I Never got loads of toys or gadgets. And tbh I never felt bad or anything about the situation regardless of the fact that all my friends were loaded. It was just the way it was.

 

[Gggshh]

Don’t know if this website has been shared but I work in a bank and have had many customers use this service, it has helped many people!

StepChange Debt Charity. Free Expert Debt Help & Advice

 

[Hallobrit]

I work part time so get Universal Credit top ups. This usually pays part of my rent. Unbeknownst to me, two of my pay cheques (Dec & Jan) fell in one of the UC assessment periods so this month I get no UC payment. Leaving me £95 short of rent and today I received a council tax letter saying my payments have. Gone up. A knock on from the UC assessment. I can't afford that either. In fact I have £15 to keep me going until Feb 7th. I don't have an overdraught or credit card. So I'm going to have to beg and hope. I can pay in installments. It's frustrating to fall victim to the system when I was virtually debt free. And very stressful. Especially as all this happened the same week as I was broken up with

 

[fireflies]

Just want to say we all make mistakes.
I know i sure did 2 student account overdrafts
Store cards loans credit cards over the years.
Been married 15years we had many financial up and downs
I wish we had cleared all debts and saved pre kids.
It's been rough but we previously cleared around 30k debts..
We brought a house party due to inheritance.
We run 1 car we paid cash for.
Kids cost a lot more as they get older.

I think student loans is 9k but I don't count them until I return to work.
2k credit card spent on emergencies not clothes or frivolous things.
185k mortgage
No savings need some.
100 quid over draft.
Aim to clear it all and save a emergency fund this year.
Have a low buy year

Discovered Dave Ramsey on you tube and debt free community on Instagram.
I previously found mse debt free wannabes board and old style so useful during our crappest times.

My tips is clear storecards 1st very are evil.
Seek help from cab christans against poverty or debt change not a company that will charge you.
Set a budget for everything and stick to it.
Make some cut backs and try and earn more.
Maybe I'm too old to be influenced by Insta influencers if it had been around when I was going 1st time mum maybe I would be.
Klarna sounds dangerous and feels sad so many people are influenced to spend and get into debt.
Good luck to anyone in their debt free journey